Trainer Todd Pletcher saddles three of the five juvenile fillies entered in the $200,000 Demoiselle (gr. II) at nine furlongs Saturday at Aqueduct.
Pletcher won the Demoiselle in 2001 with Smok'n Frolic and in 2003 with Ashado.
All three of the Pletcher fillies look solid. Wait a While, a $260,000 2-year-old purchase who is sired by
Maria's Mon, jogged home an easy winner of Belmont's off-the-turf Miss Grillo. She had broken her maiden on the grass in her prior start.
"She's a filly we're very high on," Pletcher said. "We thought she could win first out, but she got into a lot of trouble. We experimented with the grass because she worked so well on it in the morning. Obviously, she handled it well in the afternoon.
"When the Miss Grillo came off it was an easy decision to run on the dirt again. She handled the nine furlongs well and having a win at the Demoiselle distance is a big advantage for her."
Cinderella's Dream, a New York-bred, recently won the restricted Maid of the Mist on New York Showcase Day over an extremely sloppy track. This daughter of Prime Timber is riding a two-race win streak into the Demoiselle.
"She was gutsy enough to win the Maid of the Mist although I don't think she really cared for the sloppy conditions," Pletcher said.
Love Locket makes her Aqueduct debut in search of her fourth straight win. A daughter of
Thunder Gulch, Love Locket is undefeated in a pair of stakes races, having won Delaware Park's Irish Sonnet and Blue Hen. In fact, she is perfect around two turns.
"She's handled different scenarios and different conditions pretty easily," Pletcher said. "Being undefeated in three starts around two turns says a lot."
Better Now, trained by Mark Hennig, is another filly by Thunder Gulch. She won Belmont's one mile Tempted, but beat a field that appeared comprised of sprinters.
$200,000 Demoiselle (gr. II), 2-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 milesPP. Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Weight
1. Wait a While, Todd Pletcher, Jerry Bailey, 119
2. Better Now, Mark Hennig, Javier Castellano, 119
3. Love Locket, Todd Pletcher, Garrett Gomez, 119
4. Wonder Lady Anne L, Rick Dutrow Jr., Cornelio Velasquez, 115
5. Cinderella's Dream, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 119
